A Kentucky 7th Grader Set The All-Time Record For ‘Jeopardy! Kids Week’ Last Night

That happy young man in the above banner image is Skyler Hornback, a 7th grader from Kentucky and now one of the all-time biggest single-show winners in Jeopardy! history with his incredibly gutsy performance on tonight’s edition of Kids Week. Hornback fancies himself a bit of an expert and enthusiast when it comes to Abraham Lincoln, so as he pondered how much of his $36,600 in winnings that he’d be willing to wager on Final Jeopardy!, he felt pretty comfortable writing down $30,000 when he saw that the category was “Civil War.”

And the clue?

Abraham Lincoln called this document, which took effect in 1863, “A fit and necessary war measure”

That’s not even fair. Obviously, Hornback guessed the correct answer of the Emancipation Proclamation, and he cemented his place in Kids Week history with his $66,600 victory.

Alas, all was not well with tonight’s episode of Jeopardy!. We’re told by a tipster, as well as a buzz on the Tweeters, that one of the other two contestants was told that he had an incorrect answer because he misspelled Emancipation Proclamation. Now, I’m no big city slicker expert on the rules and such of Jeopardy!, but I was under the impression that if the answer was close enough, the judges would accept it. I may be wrong, but until I can find a good video of the entire Final Jeopardy! segment – you can see the dejected young man in the beginning of this rough clip – I think we should all argue about it as if it’s the most important issue in the world.

Actually they claimed I pronounced it Bringham Young, which I later found out is part of an old joke. Not sure if that played a role in the reversal. Fuck ’em, I won anyway. Then got the Christ stomped out of me in the second game,

The contestant who spelled it wrong spelled it “Emanciptation Proclamation.” I don’t know the rules for Jeopardy, but damn that was cold considering he is twelve. You could tell the kid was crushed (even if it would have made no difference), he looked like he was in tears at the end.

This kid is boss. Anybody watch Tuesday night? The kid who won was the absolute worst. We’re talking Manny from Modern Family worst. When he was talking about being lead in his Shakespeare club even Alex was like, yeah this kid is a douche.

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this kid. Betting $30,000 on a question that is pretty much meaningless seems like a football coach going for it on fourth down when their up 45-3. Very bush league. I’m happy for the kid, but if I was his father, we would have a very serious conversation about the difference between winning and rubbing it in.

I’m not sure how the Teen Tournament works but if it’s like the regular game you’re looking to maximize your final amount, because that’s the money you win. Nothing personal about doubling up on a category you know cold, just getting that cash.

Seriously, if I was on Jeopardy and I knew the final answer I’d wager every last penny I could, even if it was up by 100 grand already. The point is to win as much money as possible, not to soften the blow for the people who didn’t.

Woe to you o teens and tweens
For the devil sends the horn’backed beast with wrath
Because he knows that time is short
Let him who hath understanding of the Civil War reckon the number of the beast
For it is a human number
Its number is six hundred and sixty six hundred.

For those saying this kid is rubbing it in, that’s kinda dumb. First of all, the kid is 12 and the idea of DOUBLING his money is pretty incredible, and if he’s done years of research on Abe Lincoln why would he not go for it? Even if he wins but doesn’t bet more, he’s potentially costing himself 30,000 if he doesn’t go for it.
Plus like was mentioned before, he’s probably trying to build up his overall total which will help him in the end.

That kid was in Cliff Clavin territory. The other kid spells it right and Skylar spells it wrong, and Skylar gets to leave with a $2K loser’s check instead of a $19K guaranteed win. But what do you do if he’s your kid? Give him a big hug for winning, then slap him upside the head for being an idjit in the betting, I guess.